Thursday, June 9, 2011

This Power Wagon has sat baking in the sun, abandoned, for over 40 years.﻿

Toby Fray—Oct 17, 2010 1:00 PM

Near the 100+ year old ghost town of Ballarat, CA, sits an eerie roadside relic of one of America's most notorious crime sprees. Ballarat is located down a dirt road in the middle of Death Valley about 150 miles Northeast of Los Angeles.

Barker Ranch is reached by ascending Goler Wash, making a 4x4 truck necessary for access. The Power Wagon was picked for its off-road prowess by murderous cult-leader Charles Manson, who acquired two Power Wagons not only as a practical hill-climbers, but also to hoon in the desert."One time Charlie and I drove two trucks through Death valley, just for the hell of it...We took two 4-wheel drive Army surplus Power Wagons...We wanted to hellraise and it was a blast" said Bobby Beausoleil, a member of the Manson family, in a 1981 interiew with OUI magazine.As pressure mounted from the authorities, Charles "Tex" Watson took one of the Power Wagons and attempted to flee nine days before the Oct. 10th raid of Barker Ranch. Unfortunately for Tex, the truck broke down and he was forced to hitch-hike all the way back to his home in Texas, where he eluded the police for another month. Dry desert heat and the remote location of Ballarat have left the truck in relatively good condition.

That is not a 70s model of anything. Its much older. I thought there were two power wagons. The other is at Barkers nearly decomposed.

I suspect that Tex tried to go around the Ballarat store and campground to escape notice as he fled. Only he ended up bogged down in the mushy lake bed. Except to escape detection there was no reason to leave the dirt road. Those dry lahe beds may look dry but they are very mushy. I think Tex was paranoid about being seen leaving Golar.

I thought I saw a pic once with the Ballarat Powerwagon with the axels on blocks. Yea Katie I cant imagine tires 40 years old being able to hold air. Tires dry rot in just 5 or 6 years. Ive even bought new tires from mailorder houses that arrived by UPS already dry rotted. They had been stored in a warehouse and were wrapped.(moyorcycle tires)

Also folks...Bear in mind, this is basically an Army truck.Those tires are freakin' huge.Heck, those tires likely have 5-10 times the amount of rubber, used on a modern compact car.One of those tires has much more rubber, than a typical Toyota Corolla tire.Heck... maybe even 25 times.

I highly doubt those tires could hold air... but, the sheer thickness of the rubber alone, allows them to retain their shape, while suspended on the jacks.Also, the sheer volume of rubber, likely allows them to last 3 times longer than a modern automobile tire.

Just thinking out-loud now.LOLOL

Jeepers... these blogs are getting WAY too freakin' technical lately. It's a f#cking thread, not a science project. LOL

The more you look at the photo, it seems likely... the tires may have been replaced.Firstly... the jacks were obviously not standard equipment on the original truck. LOLAND... that white paint on the hood/front... is obviously not original either... and fairly recent-looking at that.Someone obviously added the jacks, AND the white paint, since it was abandoned... so, different tires, are not so far-fetched.

The relationship between Bobby and Charlie is a strange one. They were ten years apart in age. When I look back at when I was 21 I remember most of my close friends as being very close to my age. I could not have imagined hanging out with an ex con 10 yrs older than me yet Bobby was very close to Charlie. This was a relationship that led Bobby to commit a murder that never would have ocurred without Charlie's influence.

Katie; Charlie told Bobby, "you know what you have to do". An older man tells a young man this and slices Hinman's face with a sword to get Bobby in the mood to kill. in hindsight Beausoleil knows he could have just walked off after realizing hinman had no money in the house. Hinman sealed his fate by telling Bobby he was going to the cops. What could Hinman say? Hey this guy claims my mescaline was poor quality and wants his $2000.00 back!!

tex claims he left barker ranch because he didn't want to kill anymore people, manson wanted him to kill the sheriff of shoshone. of course i think he just wanted to get out of california, hoping if he was far away no one would look into his direction as the murderer of tate, etc.

Tex made his escape from Barker for one reason, they were almost out of drugs. I would of liked to of herd what Charlie said once he realized his chief killer had flew the coop

As far a s Bobby goes, he was making poor choices before he met Charlie. He even stole money and a van from the guy who was trying to make him a famous movie star, for what? more drugs! Why after all these years does Bobby deny that Manson came to Hinmans house and sliced his ear? I just watched Bobbys parole hearing again, and just can't beleive he says that. Does anyone know why?

FRIENDS

"Charlie Manson is a five foot seven schizophrenic, who if it weren't for the murder of Sharon Tate, would never be known or discussed. And I'm not saying he isn't funny and entertaining. I'm saying he's a dime a dozen criminal-class punk, who had the good fortune of running into some middle class pseudo-revolutionary white girls." -- Tom G

"The simple and undeniable truth, is that Charlie and the gang were/are the biggest idiots, morons and imbeciles on the planet." -- Leary7

"Them fucking fruitcakes could not pour piss out of a boot, with the bottom written on it."--Harold True